Source: Eagles hire Billy Davis as defensive coordinator

A couple of years ago Billy Davis was anything but a sexy candidate interviewing for the Eagles’ defensive coordinator job.

The head coach back in that day decided the offensive line coach would be a better defensive coordinator, and he hired him for the job.

You know how that went.New Eagles head coach Chip Kelly undoubtedly had a good laugh about it before entrusting Davis to be his defensive coordinator. A league source confirmed the hiring Thursday.

“Awesome coach, great guy, learned a great deal from him,” Browns linebacker and former Eagle Chris Gocong tweeted. “Philly should be excited.”

Turned down in his coordinator bid by Andy Reid, who hired Juan Castillo for the job, the 47-year-old Davis spent the past two seasons coaching the linebackers for the Cleveland Browns.

Though the 2012 Browns aren’t likely to draw comparisons to the Steel Curtain, the defense kept them competitive.

With veteran Dick Jauron as coordinator, the Browns were 5-8 with five losses by seven or fewer points before team president Joe Banner, the former team president, could no longer keep the dreaded housecleaning a secret. The Browns were crushed in their last three games.

Davis was defensive coordinator the year after the Arizona Cardinals lost in the last minute of the Super Bowl to the Pittsburgh Steelers. A decent defense got worse, the Cardinals also losing good players to free agency. He was canned shortly after the season.

Davis also was defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers in 2005-06. Those teams struggled but Davis learned from then head coach Dick Nolan, who this past season did a stellar job coaching the defense of the Atlanta Falcons to its first playoff victory since the days of Michael Vick.

When Banner fired the Browns’ coaching staff, he hired Ray Horton, who after Ken Whisenhunt was fired was so angry he didn’t get a chance to be head coach of the Cardinals he told them he wasn’t returning. The Browns are paying Horton $2 million a year, a salary rivaling the check of their new head coach, Rob Chudzinski.

The Eagles reportedly were interested in Horton. The Browns, you may remember, basically threw a hissy fit when Kelly wouldn’t immediately accept their head coaching offer.

Kelly reportedly interviewed New York Giants linebackers coach Jim Hermann for the Eagles’ coordinator job but the veteran coach withdrew from consideration.

Davis’ father Bill, worked in personnel for the Eagles during portions of the Dick Vermeil and Buddy Ryan eras.